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2004-10-06 International-UN-NGOs

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Posted by Mark Espinola 2004-10-06 12:55:31 PM|| || Front Page|| [6 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It's PAST time to evict the UN.

His last line sums it up perfectly. :-p

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2004-10-06 1:52:18 PM|| 2004-10-06 1:52:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Put them in Jerusalem. Than they can oversee the world's number one hot spot.

Posted by plainslow 2004-10-06 1:53:16 PM|| 2004-10-06 1:53:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Preach Brother Preach!

Posted by Secret Master 2004-10-06 6:02:05 PM|| 2004-10-06 6:02:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Brother plainslow is on the path!

Posted by Shipman 2004-10-06 6:15:04 PM|| 2004-10-06 6:15:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#5
I understand that Kofi Annan .... collected a nice piece of change out of Iraqâs phony oil-for-food program.

How much? What's the evidence?
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Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-10-06 6:32:49 PM|| 2004-10-06 6:32:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Perhaps they could relocate UN HQ to the Darfur region of the Sudan.

Posted by A Jackson 2004-10-06 6:57:49 PM|| 2004-10-06 6:57:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Relocate the U.N. to the center of the biggest mass grave in Iraq (or Darfur...).

Posted by CrazyFool 2004-10-06 7:04:24 PM|| 2004-10-06 7:04:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Kofi's kiddo Kojo Annan got in with the sanctions monitoring firm Cotecna. There is no mention of Kofi being directly bribed, though some current and former UN officials seemed to have done well for themselves. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/rosett200403101819.asp
Cotecna was hired by the U.N. on December 31, 1998. Shortly afterward, press reports surfaced that Kojo was a partner in a private consulting firm doing work for Cotecna, and that just 13 months previously he had occupied a senior slot on Cotecna's own staff. Asked about this in 1999 by the London Telegraph, a U.N. spokesman, John Mills, replied that the U.N. had not been aware of the connection, and that "The tender by Cotecna was the lowest by a significant margin."

It seems there's a lot the U.N. managed not to be aware of. But the information that Cotecna â while employing Kofi's son in any capacity â put in the lowest bid by far for the job of authenticating Saddam's Oil-for-Food imports, is not necessarily reassuring. Cotecna, which got paid roughly $6 million for its services during that first year (the U.N. will not release figures on Cotecna's fees over the following years) was bidding on work that empowered its staff to inspect tens of billions worth of supplies inbound to a regime much interested in smuggling, and evidently accustomed to dealing in bribes and kickbacks as a routine part of business.

Posted by ed 2004-10-06 7:05:17 PM|| 2004-10-06 7:05:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#9
Ed, your article has no evidence at all that Kofi Annan personally "collected a nice piece of change out of Iraq's phony oil-for-food program."

Your article says Kofi Annan's son Kojo worked on the staff of a Swiss firm, Cotecna, for a while, and then left that firm. Then, thirteen months later, Cotecna bid on a UN contract to supervise the food-for-oil program. Cotecna won the contract by offering the lowest bid.

By that time, Kojo Annan was a partner for a consulting firm that did business with Cotecna.

That's the entire "evidence". What am I missing?

Ponder this quote from the same article:
It is possible of course, that Kojo Annan had nothing to do with the Iraq program per se, as he told the Telegraph back in 1999: "I would never play any role in anything that involves the United Nations for obvious reasons." Though at the same time, in a comment that suggested at least nodding acquaintance with the Oil-for-Food program, Kojo added: "The decision is made by the contracts committee, not by Kofi Annan.".
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Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-10-06 11:01:06 PM|| 2004-10-06 11:01:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 The fact that Anna is doing everything in his power to obstruct the investigation, and the fact that his office - the Secty General of the U.N. was in charge of the program might tell you something.....

Posted by CrazyFool 2004-10-06 11:59:15 PM|| 2004-10-06 11:59:15 PM|| Front Page Top

#11
Re #10 (CrazyFool): The fact that Anna is doing everything in his power to obstruct the investigation

What's your evidence for that accusation?

Can anybody make any accusations at all about Kofi Annan, without any evidence at all?
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Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-10-07 12:45:19 AM|| 2004-10-07 12:45:19 AM|| Front Page Top

10:10 Antiwar
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09:21 Antiwar
09:19 Antiwar
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09:25 Antiwar
09:23 Antiwar
15:52 lex
15:24 Joseph L.
07:03 MendoScot
06:27 Howard UK
06:01 Memesis
05:34 Sock Puppet of Doom
05:28 Memesis
05:14 Sock Puppet of Doom
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05:07 Memesis
05:05 Bryan
04:55 Matt Helm